


A Soul Lost at Sea

by Nikki_Writes



Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Drabbles, Edik is not referred to as Crime Aunt and Joxter's Enabler for nothing, F/F, F/M, Gen, Lots of platonic stuff, OC insert, Pirates, Sea Shanties, Some Shipping, ahhh i forget what other characters will be here but i'll add as they come around, definitely crime, maybe a sword fight or two, no beta we die like men, not a full fic, oc fic, some original scenes, takes place around some parts of moominpappa's memoirs, um i'm bad at tags i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-05-15 04:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19288012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikki_Writes/pseuds/Nikki_Writes
Summary: Here I will be working on the story of another Moomin OC on and off between Witch’s Garden chapters.  It’s not really a set plot, nor a full fic, but more a series of drabbles (hopefully in chronological order) of how she meets her friends, some of their adventures, her interactions with the present characters, etc etc.  Now, you will have to forgive me, as I did stretch the time between certain events to suit some character building.





	1. About a sailor found at sea

                The sky is red with the rising sun once the tempest clouds flee in the early morning.  The rays scatter across the choppy waves – much smaller than they had been during the frightening storm.  The ship isn’t in great shape, but it’s still sailing which is a wondrous feat for a boat not built for the hefty - storms of the sea.  Those on board are all in one piece, though a bit sick from being tossed around by the violent waves.  Things are being put back in order aboard the Oshun Oxtra best they can be with how shaken some of the crew are after the night’s events.

                The crew, as you know, consists of Hodgkins, a young Moominpappa (known here as Moomin), Muddler, and Joxter.  A lively crew they are, they waste no time in clearing the deck of seaweed and other such things washed up by the waves, Moomin making coffee for the crew.  The Muddler planned to get his coffee tin back in order but halts near the railing of the riverboat.  Something catches his eye, bobbing with the rough waves.  It looks to be a small boat.

                Normally, anyone else would brush this sight off as some old wreckage washed back out to sea by the tempest waves.  But the Muddler, ridden with nerves as he is, insists they get closer.  What if it wasn’t washed off of a far-off shore?  Not resurfaced from the deeps, or dropped by another ship?  They decide to steer a bit closer.

                Imagine their shock when they do see someone!  Laying over the bottom of the capsized boat, holding desperately to it as it teeters with the waves – likely seeming much larger to a single person on such a small boat than to them on Hodgkins’s much larger riverboat.  Tails bristle and fur stands on end as they take action.

                Moomin is quick to help Hodgkins with getting the old anchor rope to toss over the side of the boat while Muddler and Joxter call out to the poor sailor.

                “Ahoy, there!” Joxter calls, grabbing the attention of the barely conscious sailor.

                “Are you alright?  Don’t worry, we’ll pull you up!”  Muddler shouts, helping throw the rope.

                Once the end of the rope hits the water, the stranded sailor lunges for it.  It takes them a moment to get a good grip, but once they do the crew of the Oshun Oxtra works together to haul them onboard.

                The poor thing is soaked through, both them and their small bag of belongings.  With shaking hands, they wring out their hair – and is there a lot of it!  Large, icy blue eyes peer up from under auburn hair.  They – she, as it turns out – are scared, understandably.  The storm had them all shaken, they can’t imagine what it must have been like barely keeping yourself above the water, being thrown out of your small boat…  No matter how hard they may try, they’re sure their imagination can’t begin to conjure the dangers of reality.

                A towel is given to her to dry off, a blanket to help keep the chill off, and, eventually, a hot cup of black coffee.  She doesn’t seem fond of the taste, but she won’t give it up, be it for the warmth or how it soothes her aching throat – maybe it just happens to taste better than all the saltwater she had swallowed while being tossed about the waves.  They’re not sure.

                The first question asked:  Why would you take to sea in a boat like that in such foul weather?

                “I don’t remember.”  She replies, “It was the only time I could, though.  That much I’m sure of.”

                “Can’t remember?”  Moomin asks and is met with a nod.  Who could forget something like that?  “What about your name?  Where are you from?”

                These questions are met with a shake of her head.  “I don’t know, I’m afraid.”

                “Well… that was an awful storm!  You must have hit your head awfully hard when your boat capsized,” the Muddler reasons.  They all agree that amnesia isn’t completely impossible, though Joxter seems to agree less than the others.

                “Well,” Joxter begins, “I suppose now is as good a time as ever to rename yourself.”

                Edik looks up at him from her sitting position on the deck.  He’s right.  She can absolutely choose a name for herself now, it wouldn’t do her much good to remain a nameless stranger.  A new name is a big decision, though!  She spends a good few minutes pondering as everyone goes back to their tasks.  Everyone aside from Joxter, that is, who wasn’t doing anything before Muddler noticed her.  He resumes doing nothing, lighting his pipe as he sits near the – mostly comfy, now – bundle that is their new crewmate.

                “I think… I should like to take the name Edik.”  She eventually speaks up, the first noise in a while to break the monotonous pattern of crashing waves and Muddler rummaging about in his tin.  Joxter gives a lazy nod as he continues to puff lazily on his pipe.

                “A fine name.  Edik you will be.”  He gives a soft yawn after saying this, leaning back against the railing of the boat.  He would like to take a nap, but the winds still blowing off the water leave far too much of a risk to his hat – a fine red hat, he wouldn’t like to lose it.  He’ll nap later when Edik is steady enough to move off the deck.  It’ll be warmer and far less windy inside the boat.

                A small smile comes to her lips as she finishes off her coffee.  She ponders in the silence again, but this time of what adventures this new beginning, this new life, has in store for her.  This crew of this strangely sea-bound riverboat seems a kind, interesting bunch.  She hopes they will allow her to travel with them for some time.  What would she do when left to herself?  No memory, no home, nothing to return to.  They can’t very well leave her like that, could they?


	2. In Which Edik Learns of Others and Herself

                The waves are noticeably smaller the next day, less violent.  The large red riverboat rocks gently with the sea’s waves.  The members of the crew are much calmer as well – especially Muddler who is several shades less green than he was the previous day.  Edik is still as confused and rattled as she was when they found her, though that’s to be expected.  Being nearly drowned and losing memories to a storm like that would leave anyone rattled for quite some time.

                As odd as the circumstances are, Edik can’t seem to be too upset about it all.  “Plenty of people set out to sea to find a new life.  Sure, this may not be quite what they mean, but it’s a way to go about it.”  She’s not at all sure what she originally set out to sea for or who with, but that doesn’t matter now.  Whatever she has left of herself, she’ll build around that.  With such a strange crew of new acquaintances, this should prove to be very interesting!

                Speaking of her strange new acquaintances, perhaps she ought to learn a few things about them.  She went to bed early yesterday, needing to get proper rest after such events, not to mention stay warm.  Not much help at sea should you catch pneumonia.

                Who does she talk to first, though?  Hodgekins doesn’t seem much a talker at all.  The only thing she’s been able to get out of him was a bunch of muttering about cogs, his name, and the name of the ship.  She gets the idea to speak to Muddler when she hears him rummaging around in his large coffee tin as she’s passing.  With a bit of effort, she’s able to poke her head over the top to see him speaking to himself and arranging a bunch of buttons.

                “What are you doing?”  She asks, genuinely curious.  Her suddenly making herself known startles the Muddler quite badly, and his buttons get all sorts of disorganized again.  She quickly apologizes, makes to leave when he stands to speak to her.  Offers to show her his collection.  She’s the one person here who hasn’t seen it yet, and he is so very proud of it.  Edik happily agrees.  She’s never found buttons to be very interesting, but it’s something to pass the time.

                As the Muddler goes through sorting his buttons on the deck with Edik, explaining them and their significance as he goes, Edik pays as close attention as one can to something that doesn’t quite interest them.  All the same, the one she would like to befriend is very much interested in them, so she does her best to pick up on information in the case she finds interesting buttons herself.

                Interesting buttons she’s found…

                Edik stops paying attention to rummage through the bag she had with her when they found her – she’s done well to keep it at her side.  Muddler stops talking when he notices.

                ”I’m terribly sorry, I must be boring you…”

                Edik quickly looks up and shakes her head.  “No, no, not at all.  I just think,” she pulls her hand out of the bag, something held in her fist, “these might interest you.  I have no need for them, don’t even know where they came from.”

                Muddler puts out his paws and Edik drops three shiny round shapes into them.  The awe in the creature’s eyes when he realized she dropped gold buttons into his paws brought a smile to her face rather quickly.

                “Are you sure you don’t want them?  They look very special…”

                Edik insists he takes them.  None of her shirts have buttons, and they don’t match the ones on either pair of pants she has.  He lets out a cheer and rushed back into his coffee tin to put them in a special box while Edik gets up to talk with another.

                The next person she comes across is Moomin, who is all too ready to ramble about himself.  Edik doesn’t much like those so self-absorbed, but the only other person she could possibly talk to – Joxter – is asleep and she doesn’t want to bother him, but she doesn’t want to be alone either.  So, young Moomin is her only option if she wants a conversation she can follow – she just doesn’t understand Hodgekins’ machine talk…

                Moomin is going on about how he was found by the Hemulen Aunt in a wonderful basket, and so on.  Edik calls him out quickly.

                “No you weren’t,” she says, leaning back against the railing of the stairs Moomin sits on which lead to the pilot house.

                “Pardon?”  Moomin looks up at her.

                “You weren’t found in some nice basket.  I know a talltale when I hear one – I guess.  It just doesn’t sound right.  I bet you were actually found in a paper or plastic bag.”  She stares out over the sea as she says this, so she doesn’t see the angry pout on the Moomin’s face – she knows she would laugh if she did.

                He scoffs.  “But I _was_ born under special stars.”

                “Aren’t we all, though?”  One could see that Moomin is getting quite upset with her interruptions.  “I mean, everyone is born under different stars, so I’d expect they’re all special.  I sure like to think we all are special in some way, though not all in the same ways.”

                Moomin doesn’t seem to like this philosophy much and continues to pout in angry silence.  Edik takes this as a chance to take her leave.

                She takes to sitting near where Joxter naps on the strange pink cloud that covers a good portion of the deck – they say it helped them to fly over the gale, and as tall a tale as it sounded to be, something about it didn’t strike Edik as untrue.  Perhaps it also has to do with the fact that this cloud has, in fact, remained on the deck rather than drifting away as most clouds tend to.  A peculiar thing, but according to what she’s seen of the Joxter napping on it, it must be quite comfortable.

                She’s far away in thought when Joxter gives a yawn as he wakes up.  He gives a greeting, startling the young woman out of her thoughts, causing her to knock over her pack.  Not much spills out.  Just her pencil roll and an instrument.

                Joxter looks it over, “What’s this?” he asks, picking up the wooden instrument.

                “Pan pipes,”  Edik responds, taking them when they’re handed to her.

                “Can you play?”

                “I suppose that would be the only reason they’re in my bag.”  The response was not said sarcastically, but with a wondering tone.  She blows experimentally into it, the instrument emitting a lovely hollow sound.  She plays around with the sound a bit before getting the hang of it, and she plays a short tune.  It’s soft, melancholy.  Like a true song of the lonely sea.


	3. About a peculiar garden party and learning to dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Art to accompany this chapter on my tumblr: https://nikkistrations2-point-0.tumblr.com/post/185940746978/an-art-to-accompany-the-newest-a-soul-lost-at-sea

A new day brings about a new land. From the boat alone, they can see the many walls and straw houses built up by the people of this country which decorate the paths and green hills. It’s quite lovely, actually, though the Joxter has some words to say on the walls. He also points out that there is something missing. The people. With so many homes on such lovely green hills, you would expect there to be somebody around, but the hills are eerily quiet. The only sound heard as they walk about looking for any sign of life is that of someone, somewhere playing a comb.

Upon investigating, they find that a young Mymble – aptly called the Mymble’s daughter – was the source of the music. From her, they learn that everyone is at a garden party, that she was told by her mother to stay home – first because she was sick, but after being caught in that lie, admitted it to be punishment for lying –, and that she can spin quite the convincing tale. The group decides to take the young Mymble along with them to the garden party, listening to her chatter as they go along.

The garden party is apparently being held by the King for his one-hundredth birthday. Edik wishes, for a moment, that she had dressed better for the occasion. She feels a bit raggedy with her off-yellow puffy shirt missing its only two buttons near the collar – she wonders briefly if they were the ones she gave to Muddler, but decides to shrug it off. So long as she’s confident in herself no one should notice.

The Mymble’s daughter begins talking about the walls once prompted by Joxter asking what they’re for. Her telling how the country’s subjects simply like to build the walls quickly turns to her telling a talltale of an estranged uncle who likes to walk around the walls while studying words and letters. She mentions how it takes him hours to do longer words.

“Like otolaryngologist,” the Joxter mentions as an example.

“Or kalospinterochromatokrene,” Moomin tries to butt in, earning a raised brow from Edik.

“That’s not a real word.” Moomin seems offended at her accusation, insisting it is. Apparently, the young traveler forgot how she can sense lying. “Well, I’ve never heard of it. It’s not real, and I’ll find a way to prove it.” Being stuck on this walk to the party with two so many liars will prove quite exhausting to the honest and gullible ones of the party.

They eventually happen upon a large gate decorated with flowers and greenery, and a placard declaring this the way to the Autocrat’s garden party. Once they’ve read the sign, the daughter of the Mymble takes off down the path far ahead of them. Throughout the path, the group finds themselves encountering many obstacles – or ‘surprises’ as the King labeled them. None of them faze Edik much aside from the very real bull that tossed Joxter into a rosebush with its horns – they were padded, thankfully – as a result of him believing it a fake and slapping it. Somehow, he was unharmed by this.

As they go along, they also find colorfully painted eggs with numbers printed on them. Some sort of lottery, they all figure. What fun! Edik on finds four by the time they reach the party, which she stores in her deep pockets. Music and cheers fill the meadow the event is taking place in with much food, dancing, and rides all about. Everyone attending seems to be having a good time.

They receive a glass of ginger ale from a Hemulen at the entrance, then go to give their well wishes to the Autocrat. Immediately after they do, the King announces the lottery to be drawn. Edik receives some creative gifts: a painting kit, a book of painting boards, a dictionary, and a guitar.

After the drawings are over, everything returns to how it was, once again full of dancing, music, and laughter. It’s around early evening, just as the sky starts to turn pale and the clouds darken, that Edik happens across Joxter looking uncharacteristically troubled. It’s not that he looks incredibly troubled, but for one as laidback as the Joxter, even the slightest hint of a troubling though seems like a lot.

“Something the matter?” She asks as she stands next to him, following his gaze. He’s eyeing a tall Mymble with red hair tied up in a bun dressed in purple, no doubt the Mymble that the Mymble’s daughter described as her mother during the walk to the party. Joxter mutters to himself about her being remarkable, and Edik can’t help but to agree. The woman is tall and absolutely beautiful, she almost finds herself as entranced as Joxter. She snaps out of it when a new song begins to play, and she looks to see the dance area filling up again. “Why not ask her to dance?”

Joxter shifts his gaze to the woman next to him. Edik’s suggestion is genuine and a good one, but there’s one problem…

“If I only knew how.” He seems saddened that such a chance won’t come to him, but Edik quickly wipes the thoughts away.

“Why, that’s no problem at all! It’s easy.” The Joxter eyes her skeptically. “Allow me to show you.” She extends her hand to him with a low bow, one arm behind her back and her eyes locked with his, “Might I have this dance?” he stares at the hand offered to him, not quite sure how to respond or if he should. His eyes then flash back to Edik’s and she gives a chuckle. “Put your paw in my hand, Joxter. Your other paw.”

Edik can’t keep the amusement out of her voice, and Joxter finds the whole ordeal quite embarrassing. All the same, he follows through with it. The moment his paw is in her hand, Edik grasps it. She quickly rights herself and pulls her friend into position, the hand that had been behind her back now placed on his waist. He puts his other paw on her shoulder to steady himself, his grip quite tight. His posture is stiff, and she’s sure to point it out.

“Now, now, my friend, relax. You don’t want a woman to know you’re nervous. I’m going to show you the steps, then we’ll switch roles so you can practice. Ready?”

Once Joxter gives a nod, Edik takes the first step forward which prompts her partner to take a step back. They fall into a rhythm quickly, and the Mumrik forgets to question how she knows all this as he’s silently questioned her knowledge of many things. Edik dances the steps effortlessly, fluidly, counting the steps quietly but loud enough so Joxter can hear. They spin and twirl, making their way around the other dancers. He takes mental notes.

After a short while, they separate and take a step back. “Now,” she begins, “show me.”

Joxter imitates the bow perfectly, gently pulling Edik in when she takes his paw affirmatively. His other paw takes her waist while she places her hand on his shoulder, and they fall into step. Edik takes up counting softly as Joxter takes all the right steps in perfect time. She’s surprised at how quickly he learns, he hasn’t looked at his feet once!

They finish the dance and step back from one another again. She gives a smile and waves him in the direction of the Mymble. “Well, what are you waiting for? I’m sure she’d love to dance.”

Joxter gives a brief thanks before running off. Edik watches from where she was left as the tall woman accepts the smaller man’s invitation to dance. She makes her way off the dancefloor and back to her lottery prizes as they make their way to the other dancers. He’s a bit clumsier dancing with her, but that’s to be expected with a partner so much bigger than yourself – especially when you practiced with someone who happens to be just shorter than you.

Edik collects up her things just in time for the others from their group to ask if she’d like to leave with them. She decides she will. The sunset over the sea will be the perfect subject for her first painting.


	4. About cutting ties with a life unknown...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Got a long chapter this time around, wow!

The morning after the party, everyone sits in the pilothouse drinking coffee.  Edik sips at hers as she gazes through the window at the rising sun, glancing between the view and the painting in her lap.  She keeps her paints close to her on the small table where she places her mug to pick up her brush once again.  She has to keep her paints close to her, now.  When Joxter had finally come back from the party last night, he almost mistook them for food in his sleepy stupor.  With him being tired all the time, she doesn’t trust it won’t happen again.

As she busies herself with the sunrise, Moomin and Mymble Jr. are arguing about yet another fib the young girl told, which eventually devolves into Moomin claiming they can’t have her on the ship because it’s bad luck.  Edik has to agree with the young Mymble’s cry of “Balderdash,” but she keeps it to herself.

She’s not too keen on paying much attention to the reading of Hodgkins’ telegram from the Autocrat either.  She gets the gist of it, that he’ll be going to invent for the king.  Edik’s happy for him, from what she’s seen and heard of his mumbling inventing is his passion.

Moomin, however, starts complaining about how they can’t be adventurer’s if they stay in one place.  Asks Hodgkins if he wants to be an adventurer, a question to which the answer was simple.  No.

“Hush up, will you,”  Edik says, her voice soft but harsh.  “Stop trying to impose what you want on other people.  You don’t get to make the decision of what he wants to do.”

Moomin huffs at her.  Hodgkins pipes up with a suggestion of his own, his voice kind when he suggests Moomin starts a colony with the others.  He then finishes fixing his ears and clothes before going to speak with the Autocrat.  Edik can’t help but admire the amount of patience he has.

Everyone has their things off the ship by noon, when it – save for the pilothouse – is taken to the King’s with Hodgkins.  None of them are particularly concerned with nosing about in his affairs, they’re really none of their business.  All they need to know is he’s going to get to do what he wants to do most in life, and therefore they are happy for him.

While Muddler gets his tin straightened up again, and Moomin wanders off to sulk, Edik decides to follow Joxter to meet this Mymble properly.  From what she saw of the woman the previous night, she figures she’s a kind, jovial woman – and she’s right.  The Mymble is happy to see Joxter again and happy to meet Edik.  Edik opts out of a handshake, though, waving her oil paint-stained hands.  She would hate for a mother of so many to get it on her, only to accidentally stain all of her children with it.  The Mymble laughs at that but is understanding.

Joxter excuses himself eventually, thinking he heard Muddler calling for somebody.  As he usually does for his friend, he rushes off to help.  Outside, Edik can hear a water pump being turned on and off as the eldest of the Mymble’s children washes her siblings.  It is now only Edik and Mymble in the home.

“You obviously have a lot of experience with children,” Edik starts, earning a nod from the tall woman, “Are you perhaps any good with… cutting hair?”

The Mymble’s face softens, but her smile never leaves her face.  She’s more than happy to assist Edik.  The longest part of the hair cutting process is the bangs, which Edik insisted she wants.  Shorter towards the brow, a bit longer around the sides to frame her face.  By the end of it, not a bit of hair reaches her shoulders.  She looks in the mirror at the end result and beams.  The Mymble compliments the shorter look on the young woman and hands her the hair tie that once held her hair in place.  She’s ecstatic as she ties some of the shorter hair back in the smallest ponytail she’s ever seen.

“I love it!”

Her wardrobe didn’t feel so unfitting now.  She actually feels it fits this new hairstyle much better than it ever did her long hair.  She’s quick to help clean up – it’s her hair after all, and it is everywhere.  It would be unfair to ask something like this of someone and not help clean it up.

Edik thanks Mymble many, many times.  This was her next step to starting a new life where she can’t remember her old one.  A new name, a new haircut, and new friends.  Hell, a new country!  Things are really looking bright!

Once things are cleaned up and Edik gives the last of her thanks to the Mymble – this may or may not have involved a kiss on the cheek, neither party will say – Joxter enters once again.  This time he is calling for Edik.

The young woman glances over at him, their stares holding for a moment before she quirks a brow.  “What?  Don’t recognize me?”  she laughs.

The Joxter gives a breath of a laugh in response, “Almost didn’t.”  He gives her a once over before nodding, “It suits you.  Come along, now, Moomin has something he wants to tell us all.”

The two leave, not before saying goodbye to Mymble of course.  For Edik, this is a blown kiss which Joxter questions immediately once they’re outside.

“What was that?”

“What was what?  My blowing a kiss?” Edik asks with a smile.  “That’s just how I say farewell.”

“You don’t do that with any of us,” The Joxter retorts.

“I haven’t had to say farewell to any of you yet, have I?” Edik states, pulling his hat down over his eyes.  Joxter pushes his hat back up with a glare that only gets a laugh out of the young woman as they arrive at the pilothouse.  The Mymble’s daughter races past them, startling them both to some degree.  They hadn’t known she was there.  Edik walks through the door next, looking back at Joxter with a wink, “I’m not going to steal your woman, don’t worry.”

The little meeting is called, and Moomin explains how he would like to start a colony with them all.  Mymble Jr. speaks up quickly, explaining what her mom had told her a colony was.  “She thinks they’re people who all live close together because they don’t like being alone.”  The small Mymble explains.  She adds on that eventually everyone starts quarreling a lot, too.  Nobody said anything for a moment, but it’s clear nobody likes the sounds of it.

Muddler asks if they should start quarreling, then takes it back.  He adds that he doesn’t like fighting at all.  Edik reassures him there’s no need.  They are both shocked by Joxter’s outburst following.  He’s adamant about saying how wrong the Mymble’s explanation of a colony is, and he does so quite loudly.

Joxter goes on to describe his image of a colony.  “It’s a place where you live in peace an quiet as far away from other people as possible.  Occasionally something strange happens, but peace and quiet always follows…”  he mentions how one could live in an apple tree if they want.  Talks about song, sunshine, and the ability to sleep in every morning, and how nothing important has to be done, because it can all be put off…  “You let them take care of themselves!”

Muddler asks is they do, in fact, take care of themselves.  To which Joxter replies, in a dreamy tone, “Of course they do.”  His imagery of oranges and flowers growing and blooming, respectively, is beautiful, and Edik finds herself smiling behind her open book at the pictures her mind makes up of them.  A new Joxter is born to eat and smell all the oranges and flowers?  She can’t help but think that’s what _he_ would do and laughs under her breath.

Everything about the image Joxter painted for them sounds perfect to her.  Someplace peaceful where you can go about things at your own pace…  she doesn’t get to explore this peaceful place in her mind for long before Moomin starts shouting about how _that’s_ wrong.  She looks at him over her book with narrowed eyes as she bookmarks Joxter’s view of a colony in her mind to look back on later.

Moomin shouts – for whatever reason, nobody else was speaking – that he believes a colony is an outlaw society doing things that are terribly adventurous and a little frightening; things that nobody else dares.  Mymble Jr. asks for an example, but Moomin doesn’t have one prepared.  He simply says, “You’ll see,” and promises something exciting for the next Friday.

Muddler and the young Mymble applaud this.  Once that dies down, Edik takes the opportunity to speak.

“Technically none of you are wrong.”  She starts, drawing everyone’s attention to her.  She’s looking at a particular page in her book now, finger tracing the lines of words as she read, “Colony; noun; a group of people of one nationality or ethnic group living in a foreign city or country.  That fits us _partially_ , I think the second definition will suit better.”  Her finger moves down a line, “A place where a group of people with similar interests live together.  Of course… with everyone’s views on what a colony is and what they would want for one being very different, the definition doesn’t suit us perfectly, but it’ll do.”

Moomin stops glaring for a moment – he started to the moment Edik began talking, but only because every time she does it’s to disagree with him.  This is the first time Edik has nearly agreed with him on anything.  She gives a smirk and turns to a marked page.

“Also, that big word you used yesterday?  It really doesn’t exist.  It’s not in this book at all.”  She waves the clearly titled dictionary in front of her face.  Moomin gives a groan as Edik laughs good-naturedly.  How embarrassing for him to be called out.  This time in front of his friends.

 

Finding places to stay seemed to be the easy part.  The Muddler, as anyone would have guessed, stays in his coffee tin; the Mymble’s daughter decides to go and stay somewhere different every night to prove her independence to her mother; Moomin takes the old pilothouse.  Joxter, Edik imagines, really did go to live in an apple tree.  With very few options, Edik decides to camp out under some trees herself.  She did not realize it was the same tree Joxter took to.

“Got nowhere else to go?” his voice sounds from above.

Edik quickly sits upright, looking up at him.  His dark blue eyes seem to pierce through her.  “Oh!  I didn’t realize this tree was already taken.  I can move, if you like.”  She hadn’t meant to intrude on any personal space.  To be honest, she didn’t think to look up the tree at all.

“No, it’s fine.”  He eyes the guitar on the ground next to her.  “Do you know how to play it?”

Edik blinks up at him.  “The guitar?  No, I don’t.  guess I never came across one before I ran into you lot as I did with my panpipes.”  Joxter climbs down from his perch in the tree to sit next to Edik.  He picks up the guitar, holding it in what Edik assumes to be the right way.  “Do you play?”

“A little here and there.  Enough to get by in most songs.”  He strums each string individually, cringing at how out of tune they are.  He mutters about how the King didn’t have the decency to gift her a tuned guitar as he goes about tuning it by ear.  Edik can’t help but chuckle at his frustration with the instrument.  With his sharp hearing, though, the tuning is done in no time.

He turns himself to face Edik, “Now, let me show you.  It’s no good having an instrument you can’t play.”

They spend a few hours passing the instrument back and forth.  Joxter shows her a chord a few times, then hands the instrument to her.  This is where most of the time is spent, teaching Edik where to place her fingers to get the right sound.  It doesn’t take her long to get a strong grip on the strings, her fingers are already calloused – from what, he’s not sure – so she can already practice for a longer time than most beginners.  She still has a long way to go, and Mymble’s children will complain about the poor playing until she gets the hang of it, but if this is what her new life has in store for her, she wouldn’t trade it for anything…

Well, maybe one thing…


End file.
